Gastrointestinal flu is extremely uncomfortable: it often starts with a little nausea, but soon vomiting and diarrhea come on. This additionally stresses the body and understandably we want to get rid of the symptoms quickly. Fortunately, we often have suitable helpers for the complaints at home: You should definitely test these gentle home remedies for gastrointestinal flu!
1. Drink a lot!
Due to vomiting and diarrhea, we lose a lot of vital fluids – and dehydrate. On the other hand, it only helps to drink as much as possible. It should be two to three liters (lukewarm) of water. Herbal tea also helps: Chamomile in particular soothes the digestive tract and has a relaxing effect, while peppermint removes the nausea.
2. Don't forget electrolytes
We need the so-called electrolytes to regulate the water balance and the pH of the blood. With diarrhea and vomiting we lose a lot of it. In contrast, there is electrolyte powder in the pharmacy, but we can easily create a solution ourselves. For this purpose, a level teaspoon of table salt is mixed with seven to eight teaspoons of grape or table sugar and with one liter of still water. The solution should be drunk throughout the day.
3. Heat relaxes
Gastrointestinal flu is often accompanied by stomach cramps – and warmth helps best. The easiest way to do this is to put a warm hot water bottle on your stomach.
4. Put on light food
If you’re still unable to eat solid foods because of the symptoms, best bet on vegetable broth: It supplies the stressed body with the nutrients it needs and can be drunk little by little. As soon as you can tolerate solid food again, you switch to light food. Particularly well-tolerated foods such as rusks and various types of fruit such as bananas or apples are particularly suitable.
5. Take psyllium
Psyllium seeds can be used in a variety of ways for indigestion because the mucilages they contain can bind water and the seeds swell in the intestine. In the case of diarrhea, for example, they bind excess fluid, which causes the stool to become denser and diarrhea to subside. For acute symptoms, simply mix a teaspoon of psyllium with around 200 milliliters of water and drink – then you rinse with two glasses of water.
And what about cola and pretzel sticks?
Again and again one reads of cola and pretzel sticks as effective home remedies for gastrointestinal infections. You'd better stay away from that! Cola can make diarrhea even worse due to the amount of sugar it contains. And as far as pretzel sticks are concerned, the idea of increased salt intake is not wrong with gastrointestinal flu, but pretzel sticks are not really suitable for this. Because potassium and citrate – two of the salts that we urgently need for diarrhea and vomiting – are completely missing here. Instead of relying on these outdated home remedies, you'd better drink the electrolyte mixture.
By the way, here we explain how you can stimulate your digestion, what helps with constipation and where your abdominal pain could come from.
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